To launder sets of clothing for a group of individuals, such as athletic uniforms, it is necessary to group each set of clothes so that it can be returned to the proper individual. To efficiently launder several sets of clothes at once, a retention device is needed to keep each set of clothes together while the clothes are laundered. With such a device, the clothes can be returned to the individual without having to manually sort through all of the clothing and recreate each set. An important aspect of such a laundry retention device is the ability to securely retain smaller articles of clothing, such as socks. These smaller articles can be the most difficult and time consuming to sort.
There are three general devices known for retaining laundry. These are: (1) a large laundry pin; (2) a mesh bag; and (3) a strap or leash. Each of these devices has drawbacks that makes it unsatisfactory for use with small articles of clothing.
Laundry pins resemble large safety pins that are about five inches in length and are typically made of metal. A laundry pin retains articles of clothing by either passing through an opening in the article or by piercing the article. Articles of clothing that do not have an opening to pass the pin through, such as socks, must be pierced. Articles that are too thick to pass the pin through must also be pierced. Piercing clothes damages the clothing. Another drawback of laundry pins is that the shape causes them to snag and tear other garments when several sets of clothes are laundered at once. Further, because of the size and shape of the pin, the amount of clothes that can be retained with a single pin is limited. Still another limitation of laundry pins is that any identification tag for the clothes must also be attached to the pin.
Mesh bags are conventionally constructed of mesh nylon or similar material. While mesh bags avoid the problems associated with laundry pins, such as the snagging and tearing of clothes, large clothing articles tend to wad up in the bag during washing. The tendency for clothes to wad up in the mesh bags prevents the clothes from being fully cleaned and dried. Also, when a mesh bag is placed in a dryer the clothes tend to become severely wrinkled.
Laundry straps or leashes are suitable for retaining articles of clothing that have openings to pass the strap through so that the strap can be closed to form a loop. The size of the loop allows for larger clothes to be effectively cleaned and dried without causing excessive wrinkling. Additionally, because there are no sharp edges or places to snag, laundry straps do not damage the clothes. However, laundry straps have the inherent problem of being incapable of retaining articles of clothing that do not have openings to pass the strap through, such as socks.
One solution to this inherent drawback of laundry straps is the addition of a second buckle to form a smaller loop with the strap. Such a device is disclosed in Townsend, U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,128 (1996). However, the ability for this type of device to securely retain socks and other small articles of clothing is limited as these articles are only held by the friction between the clothes and the smaller loop.
Another solution to the inherent drawback of laundry straps is the combination of the strap and a loop of cord with a cordlock fastener to retain socks. Such a device is disclosed in Durney et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,748 (2000). However, this device, like that of Townsend, retains small clothes solely by the friction between the clothes and the nylon cord. Both of these devices are known to unsuccessfully retain socks and other small articles of clothing without openings, particularly when the clothes are made from modem synthetic fabrics which do not function well with friction retention systems.
The drawbacks observed in the prior art clearly show that there is a need to provide a laundry retention device that retains socks and other small articles of clothing that do not have openings These drawbacks have been overcome by the inventor through the addition of a relatively small bag attached to a laundry strap. The invention has unexpectedly been found to successfully retain articles of clothing without openings, such as socks, while being able to effectively clean and dry all of the retained articles of clothing. Because the present invention does not retain socks and other small articles of clothing by friction, the invention securely holds clothes made from both natural and, particularly, synthetic fibers.